There is no way to be prepared when it happens. Has it ever happened to you? Always, when you least expect it...Maybe the question should be WHEN has it happened to you last?
When the brain spits out the fully formed thought while we are in the middle of anything or everything, we scramble to find a way to recognize that wayward thought. Grab it. File it for later. The best ideas show up uninvited but are often very welcomed. It happens when I am driving. Maybe that billboard I saw advertising Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe Law Associates, PA seeped into my subconscious and created a brilliantly fully formed idea twenty minutes later.
I have a DVR with my television streaming service. I guess most people do. We record a pile of things, looking for something to keep our attention. We record more than we end up watching. Again, I guess most people do. The convenience of skipping the recorded commercials on recorded shows is WAY under-rated. Being able to hit the forward on the pillow guy or the weight-loss drug dance craze makes the experience more rewarding than having them removed and I still almost-never see them. The act of choice is satisfying. Regardless of whether or not you gain this satisfaction, being able to block out unwanted commercials is a benefit. We didn't invite the pillow guy or Mayhem into our lives. Just because the commercials pop up when the cliffhanger is in full swing, doesn't mean they are relevant. So we cut them out. Skip them. We should do the same with those unwanted thoughts.
If you are like me, my mind seeks constant stimulation. I get bored very easily. I love having something to do. I believe that is partly due to how I am wired, but also it is a conditioned response. We all respond to training in some manner. When we train ourselves through our routines, habits, and responses, and get the reward we worked for, we respond with the strongest praise we can receive; self-praise, pride of accomplishment, and increased self-worth.
That strongest possible (self-) praise cements the habits inextricably into our psyche and personality. Allow me to clarify this point. Say you are young in your career, eager to get ahead, and like everyone else, there never seems to be time enough to get the necessary things done, much less the voluntary or even fun items on your list. So what do we naturally do? Multitask! (What else?) These employee reviews aren't going to do themselves. And there is payroll. And a quality problem on Production Line 4. And the safety meeting is in 3 minutes where you have to review the latest initiatives.
Once you complete all the tasks, looking back, you realize that you probably didn't do your best work on the training, because you had to rush to put it together. The Payroll report came back with only 4 errors; well, it got done at least. That is what we tell ourselves to move on. In reflection, we can see how it could have been done better. We need to acknowledge the truth:
Multitasking results in doing more things less well
Sometimes the flurry of activities we are required to manage can be boiled down to the structured to-do list:
The A Category - "Must do today."
The B Category - "Need to be done today or tomorrow."
The C Category - "Can be put off this week"
When the realities of time catch up to us the priorities will have to shift. Time waits for no one, as they say. A's can become B's and B's can become C's. Soon the C's will drop to the bottom of the list and be forgotten when not completed. I am not being critical or overly harsh when I say this. This is the reality of life. There never will be "enough" time.
AH, but those rare times when the meaningful, poignant, fully formed thoughts drift into the space between my ears. Today it happened while I was in the shower. I was thinking about this blog. I wondered, about the flood of stimulation I expose myself to daily, and how it affects my brain at rest.
Not too long ago I was restless, literally. I would sleep for only 2-3 hours at a time. Up early. Up late. Always on call. I have learned that this, too, is a result of multitasking. You see, some A's get lodged in the crack between A & B. Tasks started, not finished, set aside only to be forgotten in the dust. But the brain continually chews on the ideas, only to remind you that there is work to do in the middle of the night.
The truth is, there will always be work to do. Get Your Rest. Save your health. If you can sleep when you're dead, perhaps you can work when you're dead too.
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